sheriff is at the door; tidings which the terrified hostess breathlessly confirms. Afraid to be taken to task for the night's wild doings, all now vanish, except the Prince and one of his companions, who boldly face the sheriff and carrier, coming in quest of a man easily recognisable by his bulk. Promising Falstaff shall appear in court on the morrow, to face the charge of robbing travellers, the Prince dismisses sheriff and carrier, and then seeks Falstaff, whom he discovers asleep behind the arras. As a practical joke, Prince Hal rifles the sleeper's pockets, finding nothing therein save a table-bill, wherein enormous quantities of meat and drink are poorly offset by the smallest possible modicum of bread. Then the Prince departs, vowing Falstaff will shortly have to accompany him to war, on foot, for he proposes to make him captain of an infantry corps. ACT III. The third act opens in the archdeacon's house at Bangor, where the conspirators— Hotspur, Worcester, Mortimer and Glendower,— have assembled to discuss their prospects of success in the coming encounter with the King's troops. Like a superstitious Welshman, Glendower mentions the phenomena which accompanied his birth, portents the sceptic Hotspur contemptuously avers which would have been the same had only kittens been born! When Glendower attributes the convulsions to which the earth is subject to miraculous causes, Mortimer insists they are purely natural, and ridicules him because he claims he can call up spirits from the mystic deep. Checking a discussion which threatens to degenerate into a quarrel, Mortimer creates a diversion by showing on the map how England has been divided into three parts, over which they are to rule. Although dissatisfied with their respective shares, the conspirators finally agree to unite forces, and try issues with the King at Shrewsbury, where they mention their wives will join them. Before they separate, however, another dispute arises, due to Hotspur's determination to change the course of a river so as to win a desirable increase of land. When in the midst of the quarrel, he taunts Glendower with not speaking intelligible English, the Welshman declares he speaks it well, -having been trained at the English court before he yields to his rival's demands. Still, when Glendower has gone, his son-in-law Mortimer cautions Hotspur not to provoke him too far, advice Worcester has barely approved when the ladies appear under the Welshman's escort. Strange to relate, Mortimer and his wife are unable to talk to each other, for he speaks nothing but English and she nothing but Welsh; so, to explain to her that their coming parting will not be long, he has to make her father interpret. Kisses, however, prove more eloquent than translated speeches, and the lady soon beguiles her husband to lie down on the rushes, his head in her lap, while she sings him to sleep, a gratification he does not refuse her, although this sentimental attitude seems to amuse Hotspur and his wife, who watch them both. After listening for a while to the Welsh lady's song, Percy bids his wife farewell, and leaves just before the rest, who seem less eager for the fray. We now behold the palace at London, where the King dismisses his courtiers to confer in private with the Prince of Wales. When they are alone, Henry gravely reproaches Harry for his low tastes, a reproof the Prince tamely accepts, begging pardon for all he has done amiss. Then the King tells him how his younger brother has been filling his place, and implores him to win the good opinion of the people, for it is by such means, he, Bolingbroke, rose to the throne and ousted Richard. The Prince promising amendment, the King next informs him the positions he and Hotspur respectively occupy are about the same as Richard and himself once filled, adding that Hotspur may some day dispute Harry's crown since he has secured powerful allies. The Prince then volunteers to fight the rebels, promising to prove on Hotspur's head, that he,Bolingbroke's unworthy son-is the rebel's superior, and thereby win forgiveness for a rakish past. This private conference, closing so satisfactorily for both, is interrupted by the announcement that the rebels will be at Shrewsbury on the eleventh. On hearing this news, the King gives immediate orders for the van of his troops to proceed thither, promising to follow shortly with his son and the rest, and closing this memorable conference with the words: 'let's away; advantage feeds him fat, while men delay.' In the Boar's Head Inn, Falstaff is meantime explaining to Bardolph how thin he has grown and how virtuous, although he admits it is long since he has seen the inside of a church. Because his com |